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Catalog Lots 1 to 15

Lot Number

Description

Final Bid

A.W. CUDWORTH & CO SAN FRANCISCO CAL. 1856-61. A prevalent but popular Western soda, this one is in great shape and is the variant with the slugplate. Uncleaned, it is a medium green and has some light interior stain but overall is better than most. Grades a 7.5.

$325

DS&CO SAN FRANCISCO Blob top, slug plate, smooth base. 1861-64. A popular western soda, this one is not your typical D.S & Co. In the many years weve been doing auctions weve yet to see an example of this bottle in a color outside of the usual aqua, blues and even greens. This could be described as a medium steel blue with a touch of turquoise. The color is so unusual thats it isnt really listed and has to be one of just a few known in this color. On top of that the bottle itself is in great condition, with almost no wear on the lettering and just a few light scratches here and there. Truly a top specimen in both color and condition. Grades an 8.

$2,800

TAYLOR & CO VALPARAISO CHILI. Here we have a terrific example of this bottle made in the 1850s. There is a good amount of information on Taylor in the Markota book. This example is certainly not like most of the other examples weve either sold or seen. Instead of the typical dull green color we have a beautiful teal crystal clear example with good crudity and loads of appeal. To know this bottle has never been cleaned is amazing. With the original red graphite intact and a glass blowers error in blowing the misspelled word CHILI, this is a fine example with overall character. This is not your average Taylor, it is a beautiful teal and a grade 8 and a fine addition to any collection.

$500

TAYLOR & CO VALPARAISO CHILI on reverse SODA WATER. 1850s. Iron pontil. Here is another interesting western pontiled soda from what seems a very interesting character. Taylor had his hands in numerous products and his trips to Chile fueled a desire to bottle a South American water he thought worthwhile. While his spelling might have been suspect his product appears to have been fairly popular and you see a number of the Taylor sodas around. They generally come in shades of green but this example is a beautiful sapphire blue with nice whittle and lots of appeal. While cleaned, it was done with utmost care as it lacks the typical super shiny surface usually remaining after cleaning. Another top notch Taylor that grades a solid 8.

$4,400

GHIRARDELLI BRANCH OAKLAND. 1863-69. Blob top, smooth base. You can search far and wide and not find an example of this soda in much better condition. Its obvious that Ken Salazar spent a lot of time finding the best specimens possible for his collection. Unbeknownst to even family, the extent of his collection wasnt known until it was delivered to us. Examples like this Ghirardellis are just a sample of the quality of sodas Ken sought. This one is absolutely packed with tiny bubbles in a beautiful medium to deep cobalt blue. A flawless western soda. Grades a 9.5.

$1,000

B&G SAN FRANCISCO/SUPERIOR MINERAL WATER. Iron pontil. The only aqua B&G known? Weve seen our share of the B&G sodas, with their mug base and shades of blue they are certainly a popular bottle if not almost common. There is however the color variants and what we have here is one of the rarest of color variants of any western soda. There is not a hint of blue here, this example was blown with aqua metal. Its like they were blowing aqua and stopped with this example. To our knowledge weve heard of other aqua variants but have never seen one. This has a lot going for it as far as condition. It has been cleaned but like every other bottle Ken owned that was cleaned its hard to tell. An extraordinary example of a popular western soda. Grades an 8.

$4,400

B&G SAN FRANCISCO/SUPERIOR MINERAL WATER. Iron pontil. This sale wouldnt be complete without at least one Benicia soda and this is a good one. It is almost fully covered and has every color of the rainbow. For Benicia soda collectors it doesnt get much better. Grades a 7.5.

$900

UNEMBOSSED 8-SIDED SODA. Iron pontil. This is one of the nicer looking early pontiled sodas weve come across in this deep emerald color. The entire bottle leans a little and the iron is all there like it was pulled from the ground yesterday. A super unembossed soda with a lot to like. Grades a conservative 8.5.

$500

THE EXCELSIOR WATER. Iron pontil. Heres a beautiful 8-sided teal soda in a medium brilliant teal blue. Cleaned, it is very whittled and crude and really shines with light behind it. Interestingly the word Water is slugged in while the other two words are part of the original mold. A real looker. David Circle and Jonathan Poulson operated the Excelsior Soda Works in 1875. The company was purchased by George Madison in the spring of 1876, thanks to Mike Weston for that little tidbit. Grades an 8.

$325

KIMBALL & CO. Blob top with iron pontil. 1853-56. Description change--Lightly cleaned. A Marysville soda, heres one of the finest examples weve seen to date. These are always seen in blue and this one is a medium example with loads of whittle and almost no trace of wear or scratching. With just some of the original red graphite, this one grades an 8.5 and despite the light cleaning is as nice as we've seen.

$700

THREE CITIES CHASE. 1853-55. Applied top iron pontil still intact. Here again is a superior example of this hard to find bottle. Peck Markota used to say that these bottles are one of the rarest sodas never found. Its true, and when offered they are often beat to death. The bottom line reading Marysville is usually very hard to read but not with this example. The overall bottle has good crudity and is in fine condition. No real high-point wear or heavy scratching on a bottle that was made so many years ago. Grades an 8.

$1,300

PACIFIC CONGRESS WATER. 1869-76. Smooth base. These bottles are listed as extremely rare in blue and although weve seen a few this one is a nice change from straight cobalt. Unfortunately this one has a new top and we included it before it was discovered so we are listing it anyway. If you have a color run this would be a nice addition. The rest of the bottle is in nice condition as the pictures show.

$70

CLASSEN & CO SPARKLING with embossed crossed anchors. 1864-68. Applied top, smooth base. These are just one of the various Classen bottles made and they are very desirable as they are an unusual shape, unique to western glass. A number of these along with this one were found at the Big Dig, in S.F. in 1999. Many if not most of the bottles found were rejects from the normality of the common shapes and sizes used during the day. The tops on these bottles are occasionally like this behemoth, maybe double the size needed? They are prone to chipping and this one is perfect. They come in blues and greens also and are considered rare. They are a very early bottle and if they were blown in the west that makes them one of the oldest western made sodas or in this case, a sparkling cider. Grades an 8.5 and cleaned.

$230

CLASSEN & CO PACIFIC SODA WKS. 1863-68. Applied top. So here we have one of four variants of the Classen bottles in this sale. The age of this bottle tells us that it was one of the first made sodas from the west, more pointedly San Francisco. Even more exactly Pacific Glass Works. Milton Classen, according to Markota, was known to make soda water until 1870 after which he became a real estate agent in 1871. Little would he know the bottles made for him would become collectible so many years later. This is about as nice as these come with loads of whittle and character. As clean and crude as any weve seen. Grades a 9.5.

$190

CLASSEN & CO SAN FRANCISCO PACIFIC SODA WORKS. 1863-68. Here is a variant of the previous bottle, this one has serif font and the embossing is different. Not to mention the color is extraordinary in a beautiful blue with some green. We were pretty amazed when we first came across this one in the many boxes brought to us from Kens collection. They are listed in green and blue but weve never seen one like this. The condition is also amazing with barely a scratch on it. Another premiere example of a western soda. Grades a 9.5.